Everywhere you go, even in combat, trees, bushes and other terrain COMPLETELY block your view of some of your units.

This cannot have been an accident. Some designer had to have made a deliberate choice to make the game this way. I don't understand. How does this in any remote way enhance the game?

HOW do you set the game so that all units are always one million percent VISIBLE at all times?

AFAIK it is indeed designed that way deliberately, mostly to allow more tactical options regarding cover from archers/spells (some spells, anyway) as opposed to just rushing up the field as quickly as you can.

I'm talking about bushes and trees literally making it impossible to see YOUR OWN units.
Same with close combat, you can't see yourself or the enemy in the crowd.
For that matter, how hard would it have been to give each army DIFFERENT colored rings at the base, so you'd have some idea of who is who in a tactical melee? Crap design.

Aren't trees and the like transparent? Also isn't there a "next unit" button?

"For that matter, how hard would it have been to give each army DIFFERENT colored rings at the base"

For that matter, in AoW2 at least, your guys have blue rings and the enemy has red rings. So...